Increased COVID-19 cases force practice cancellations and rescheduled games

February 4, 2022 — by Benjamin Li and Jonathan Li
Amidst recent outbreaks, teams aim to maintain a sense of normalcy

The winter season has seen several game cancellations and postponements, as well as a number of COVID-19 scares. The boys’ basketball team has been particularly hard hit by the outbreaks.

With four sidelines with COVID infections, they rescheduled their game against Fremont on Jan. 28, and halted practice for four days before holding three practices in preparation for their match against Lynbrook on Feb. 1, whom they view as the biggest threat in their league. The team managed to pull through with a 65-58 win in a tense overtime match.

“It’s pretty hard on our team,” senior co-captain power forward Ayaaz Shah said. “Last time we played a couple games without some key players, meaning everyone else had to step their game up.”

Before the omicron outbreak, the team had to deal with two COVID cases, leaving them two players short against Monta Vista on Jan. 8, but they managed to pull off a 49-46 win. The team continued to find success in the next two games against Los Gatos on Jan. 14 and Wilcox on Jan. 18. 

Shah said he believes that the team will continue to win and stay dominant in their league, despite the recent surge of COVID-19 cases.

Their main goal remains winning the El Camino League title and CCS. 

“We’ve been checking up on each other throughout the week in our group chat,” Shah said. “Even though it’s rough on our guys that do have [COVID-19], our concern for each other has allowed us to grow closer and tighter as a team.”

Additionally, coming off a 55-37 blow-out loss against Gunn on Jan. 21, the few weeks of canceled practice and rescheduled games proved to be a much-needed rest for the players.

“The week off was honestly helpful to us as well,” Shah said. “Normally, during the season we don’t get any breaks, but now we’re able to recuperate and tackle the next few games at full power.”

For its part, the girls’ soccer team has only had a single COVID-19 case among their players. However, one of their assistant coaches did test positive, forcing the entire team to take rapid tests before their match against Monta Vista on Jan. 13.

While none of the athletes tested positive before the match, COVID-19 infections among opposing teams has led to many rescheduled games, often leading to the girls playing multiple games in a week. 

“It’s been pretty taxing,” senior co-captain Emma Foley said, “In the last two weeks of January, we had three games each week, which was really tiring.”

In addition to the physical exhaustion that came with the increased number of games per week, the team also had to deal with the changes in lineups.

Because of the back-to-back games, the team had to delve deeper into their bench, and use new strategies to fit the personnel. However, the team has still seen success and remains at the top of their league.

“We definitely can win league,” Foley said. “Even though it’s challenging playing through COVID-19, other teams are going through the same thing we are, so we just need to stick together and get through this.”

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